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Home , Dome of the Rock, Foundation Stone, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Jerusalem Day, Uzi Narkiss, Western Wall camera

JERUSALEM

CONFRONTATION: An Israeli woman walks through a group of Palestinian women protesting at Jewish visitors to the compound known to as Noble Sanctuary and to as Mount in ’s last October. REUTERS/FINBARR O’REILLY

After 900 years, Jews are chipping away at Muslims’ exclusive control of a Jerusalem site considered holy by both religions Holy rights

BY LUKE BAKER

SPECIAL REPORT 1 JERUSALEM TERRITORIAL DISPUTE

SELFIE STICKS: Right-wing Jewish activists during a May visit to the compound. REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD

JERUSALEM, JUNE 4, 2015 sun-creamed tourists. But he pays close at- Hamad and the other 70 or so guards em- tention to the groups of devout Jews and ployed by the , the Islamic trust that very morning at 7.30, Murad Hamad Israeli nationalists who try most days to oversees the mosque, see Jews praying there sets up a flimsy plastic chair in the enter the site and pray. as a serious insult. Eshade of the Moroccans’ Gate en- Those groups are at the centre of a creep- The risk of confrontation remained trance to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound ing shift in Jerusalem: After 900 years, Jews small as long as the groups pushing for in Jerusalem and waits for the tourists to are chipping away at Muslims’ exclusive the right to pray remained at the fringes of arrive. control of the site, the third holiest in . . A decade or so ago, a handful of Hamad’s job is to help keep the peace The shift, which has provoked violence in Jewish faithful would enter the compound at one of the world’s holiest places, a site the past, threatens to open a dangerous new each day. Attempts at prayer were rare. The to both Muslims, who call the com- front in the -Palestinian conflict, add- Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared in 2007 pound the Noble Sanctuary, and to Jews, ing religious enmity to a political struggle that Jews should not visit the site because it who refer to it as the be- in the very heart of the disputed city. was too holy. cause of the building that once stood there. Al-Aqsa has banned non-Muslim prayer But in recent years the radical fringe has The guard is not much concerned with the since 1187. Like Muslims across the region, become increasingly mainstream, drawing

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Disputed land

The history of the ground where the of the Rock stands is one of repeated conquest and destruction. The area was first settled by the Canaanites some 4,000 years ago. Jews believe that a temple was built during the reign of King around 1000 BC, and then destroyed by the Assyrian King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. Construction of a second Jewish temple began in 516 BC and that building stood – with occasional renovations and additions – until the Romans destroyed it in 70 AD. Control traded back and forth between , Persians, and others for a thousand years. Muslims constructed the Dome of the MISSION MAN: Yehuda Glick, here in 2011, wants Jews to be allowed to pray at the Old City Rock in 691 AD, and Al-Aqsa Mosque, the compound. Below, right: A security guard for the Waqf, the custodians of Muslim sites in Jerusalem. third holiest in Islam, 14 years later. REUTERS/EMIL SALMAN, AMMAR AWAD The is built right at the point where the Prophet Mohammad is said to have ascended to . That point also in nationalist, secular supporters and back- God created the world and was the site happens to be atop the site of Judaism’s ing from high-profile politicians. A hun- of the second Jewish temple until 70 AD , and encompasses the dred or more Jews can arrive at the mosque (see “Disputed land”). They want the right , a rock holy to Muslims, some days, in large, organised groups. Last for Jews to pray alongside Muslims. Some Jews and Christians. year Yossi Farenti, then Jerusalem District even want to build a new temple and have When the Christian Crusaders wrested Police Chief, told the Israeli parliament’s crafted sacred -and-silver vessels and Jerusalem from Muslim control in 1099, they Internal Affairs committee that the num- hand-stitched priestly vestments ready for turned Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock ber of Jews visiting the site had increased the day it is sanctified. Other supporters are into a palace and stables for the Knights 27 percent in the first half of 2014. “There breeding red heifers, hoping for one with- Templar, according to archaeologists. is indeed a worsening in the past few years out a white blemish that can be sacrificially recaptured Jerusalem in 1187 and as to what happens at Temple Mount,” he slaughtered at the temple, as described in Muslims have controlled the site ever since, said. “This is a fact. No one disagrees. You the Book of Numbers. whether the Mamluks, the Ottomans or the can see it in the numbers.” Palestinian Muslims and others across Jordanians, who oversee it to this day via a A growing number of have con- the region fear their control is slipping. trust known as the Islamic Waqf. tradicted the Chief Rabbinate, saying vis- “They want to change the rules,” said its should be encouraged precisely because Hamad, the Waqf guard. the Temple Mount is divine. Jewish visitors CHANGE IN STRATEGY mumble prayers under their breath and walk barefoot on the ancient stones in a Perched on an esplanade at the eastern sign of obeisance. edge of Jerusalem’s Old City – the Mount A range of groups, some of them well of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane financed by the Jewish diaspora, are cam- behind – there are few patches of land more paigning for open access to Temple Mount, contested than this 35 acres. which Jews believe is the point from where The critical moment in the modern AWAD REUTERS/AMMAR

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era was Israel’s capture of the Old City in SIX-DAY WAR: Defence the six-day war of 1967. For Israeli Jews, minister control of the Old City tied together poli- (centre) walks with tics, religion and nationhood. Following General the victory, tens of thousands flocked to (left) and Chief of Staff the , believed to have been after a retaining support for the second Jewish Israel captured the Old temple built 2,500 years ago. It was the first City in June 1967 mass Jewish pilgrimage to the site since the REUTERS/GPO/ temple’s destruction. ILAN BRUNER/HANDOUT But days later, with the approval of the prime minister, Defence Minister Moshe Dayan went to see the imams of the Islamic Waqf and handed them back the keys to the mosque. “I said that Israeli troops would be re- moved from the site and stationed outside the compound,” Dayan wrote in his au- tobiography. “The Israeli authorities were responsible for overall security, but we would not interfere in the private affairs of the Muslims responsible for their own sanctuaries. “We had no intention of controlling Muslim holy places or of interfering in their religious life.” Over time, a status quo evolved under which Jews have been allowed to enter and tour the area but forbidden to pray. Israeli police and some military help pro- vide security, but the Waqf administers the compound. saw the move as a provocation. It led to a A SHOOTING There were some early attempts to violent uprising called the Second Intifada, The most visible proponent of the new change that. In the 1980s, a messianic ter- also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which approach is Yehuda Glick, a red-beard- rorist group called the Jewish Underground continued for five years and left about ed, American-born who set up the plotted to blow up the Dome of the Rock 3,000 and 1,000 dead. Temple Mount Heritage Foundation in and replace it with a temple. That plan was Access to Al-Aqsa for both Muslims and 2007 and now acts as a spokesman for sev- foiled by the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic in- non-Muslims was greatly restricted. eral Temple Mount organisations. telligence agency. In recent years the groups committed A 49-year-old father of eight, Glick has In 1990, another group calling itself the to overturning the status quo have shifted become a rallying figure for the movement, Temple Mount Faithful tried to lay a cor- strategy, becoming more organised and frequently photographed with support- nerstone for a new Jewish temple, provok- gaining donors and influence. ers such as an outspoken politician from ing riots that killed 22 Palestinians. While there are still radical elements, Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, or The Waqf says things really began to and frequent verbal and physical confronta- studying pictures of a possible new temple. shift from September 2000, when Ariel tions with Muslims at Al-Aqsa, the groups In 2013 and again in 2014 he was arrest- Sharon, then Israel’s opposition leader, vis- try to cast the issue as one of religious free- ed by police after confrontations at Al-Aqsa ited Temple Mount with a large delegation dom, arguing that Jews should enjoy the and banned from visiting. He sued and won just before an election. Many Palestinians same prayer rights as Muslims. a court ruling allowing him to return once a

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Holy sites in

100 m Jerusalem’s Old City Herod’s Gate 1 Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary St.Stephen’s Jews call the 35-acre compound Temple Gate MUSLIM Mount because it was the site of their Second QUARTER Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans. Muslims call it the Noble Sanctuary and see it Golden as the third most Holy site in Islam. The site is Gate controlled by Muslims but some Jews and Israelis want the right to pray there. 1 5 2 2 Dome of the Rock New OLD CITY Islamic tradition says that the Gate Prophet Mohammad ascended CHRISTIAN 3 to heaven on a winged horse QUARTER 4 from this spot.

3 Al-Aqsa Mosque The third holiest in Islam aer and Medina in Saudi JEWISH Jaffa Citadel Arabia. Gate QUARTER 4 Western Wall ARMENIAN West The last remnant of the Second QUARTER Jerusalem Bank Temple compound and one of the holiest sites in Judaism. Gaza Strip 5 Church of the Holy Sepulcher ISRAEL Christians believe the church marks the sites where Christ was crucified and buried. Gate

Sources: XPlore Jerusalem | C. Inton, F. Chan/ReutersGraphics

month under tight supervision. “The Temple Mount is the holiest place created by more than 800 years of religious Last October, as Muslim anger at the in the world according to the and practice is incontrovertible. presence of Jewish worshippers triggered there should be freedom to pray for all be- “No one but Muslims are allowed to clashes, Glick was shot four times by a lievers – Jews, Christians and Muslims.” perform any kind of prayers at Al-Aqsa,” Palestinian when he left a conference in he told Reuters, referring to the compound “AN AGGRESSION” central Jerusalem. After 10 days in a coma, rather than just the mosque itself. and life-saving operations by a Muslim sur- That is not how Mohammad Ahmed “Jewish prayer at Al-Aqsa is not so geon, Glick came around. Hussein, the of Jerusalem much an insult as it is an aggression. If Jews “I respect the Muslims’ right to pray,” he and the head of the Waqf, sees it. try to pray at Al-Aqsa, it will only create told Reuters as he recovered from his in- As the inheritor of a job handed down more tensions in the region.” juries. “But there is no reason in the world almost without break since the 12th cen- For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin that at the only holy place for the Jewish tury, Hussein is the overriding religious Netanyahu, that is potentially a big people, a Jew should not have the right to authority at Al-Aqsa and holds the keys problem. pray. to the mosque. He believes the precedent Netanyahu has repeatedly said the

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arrangement that has governed Al-Aqsa since 1967 should not change. But after Glick was shot, Israeli authorities tempo- rarily shut all access, including for Muslims. In protest, withdrew its ambassa- dor to Tel Aviv, the first time it had taken such a step since signing a peace deal with Israel in 1994. Jordan has had special re- sponsibility for Al-Aqsa since the 1967 war. The Hashemite Kingdom has financed the Waqf and paid for renovations to the mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Its an- ger was echoed in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and beyond, leaving Netanyahu worried about regional stability. He beefed up Israeli security around the Old City, a move that many Palestinians saw as proof that change was coming.

“A SMALL GESTURE OF DEFIANCE” Six months on, the situation appears calm- CHALLENGE: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in er, though tensions remain. February. Netanyahu has repeatedly said the status quo should remain. REUTERS/MARC SELLEM/POOL Five days a week – there is no access on Fridays or Saturdays – religious-na- tionalist Jews join foreign tourists to walk described feeling intimidated by Muslims up the covered wooden ramp, through the The , which there. “In a small gesture of defiance,” he Moroccans’ Gate, the only one of the 11 will be a house of prayer for all wrote, “we continuously prayed in our ancient gates non-Muslims can use, and nations, will be built very soon. hearts and when we paused opposite the into the holy compound. Kodesh Ha’ Kadashim” – the Holy of Israeli guards assemble the Jews into Yehuda Glick Holies, where Jews believe the Ark of the groups of 10, confiscate their religious and Temple Mount Heritage Foundation Convenant once stood – “we even had prayer accoutrements for the length of the Daniel Katz,” a rabbi, “give us the priestly visit, and then assign them Israeli police mosque, the police urged them not to get blessing.” escorts. too close. Several ignored the warnings A THIRD TEMPLE? At the top of the ramp, where Israeli and stepped towards the portico, where forces keep dozens of riot shields and other Muslim men and women enter via separate Last month, an estimated 30,000 Jews security equipment, Waqf guards join the doorways. waving banners and carrying Israeli flags Jewish groups. The Israeli police lead the A group of women in headscarves and marched through the Old City to celebrate visitors around, while the Waqf guards veils began shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God , the anniversary of Israel’s maintain more distance. is Greatest”) at the top of their voices, pro- victory in the 1967 war. Palestinian protest- On one recent visit, a pious Jewish teen- testing the group’s presence. ers clashed with Jewish marchers as they ager, yarmulke on his head and long curls As the Jewish group moved away from thronged to the Western Wall. hanging either side of his face, fell to the the mosque into a grove of trees on the Some left-wing Israelis criticise the ground in the act of prayer. Police quickly eastern edge of the plaza, it was left alone, event as a provocation. For supporters, the hoisted him to his feet and warned that allowing surreptitious prayer to begin. march is a chance to impose a Jewish pres- he would be thrown out if he tried to pray Efrem Goldberg, an American rabbi, ence throughout the Old City. again. wrote an account of a visit he made to Netanyahu said in a speech that “only As the group passed in front of Al-Aqsa the Temple Mount last year, in which he under Israeli rule will there be freedom

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ENTRANCE: The Dome on the Rock, seen through one gate to the compound that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD

of worship for all religions in Jerusalem. “The Third Temple, which will be a FOR MORE INFORMATION Believers pray at their holy sites not in spite house of prayer for all nations, will be built Luke Baker, Bureau Chief Israel and the of our rule in the city, but precisely because very soon,” he said, repeating a mantra of of it.” the Temple Mount faithful. [email protected] Some Palestinians think it is a matter of Hamad, who said he has seen a steady Simon Robinson, Enterprise Editor, time before Temple Mount supporters in change during his 10 years as a Waqf guard, Europe, and Africa the Israeli government propose dividing up is convinced a crisis is coming. [email protected] prayer times, giving Muslims certain hours “It’s going to blow up,” said the 36-year- Simon Newman, Photo Editor to worship and Jews others. old. “It’s certain.” [email protected] Glick said the momentum is all in one Michael Williams, Global Enterprise Editor direction. Edited by Simon Robinson [email protected]

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